Handwriting Help and Spelling

[arboggs]

Each log writer is likely to have a peculiar writing style and spelling system. In the most exaggerated cases the spelling of one word may vary even in the entry for one day.
If you find oddities please do post them here to help other viewers working with this project.

Help with images
If you want to query/show some text please supply the page reference (the reference changes as you view the middle of a page), and an image of the text would also be helpful. Help for manipulating/posting images can be found in Guide to posting links and images. If you have any problems with imaging please ask for help below.

Remember - Always TYPE WHAT YOU SEE, just as they wrote it. If you are unsure of a word, you can post a question to this page and ask for help. If just one letter of a word is not readable you can insert a tilde mark ~ in place of a single letter.

[arboggs]

One of the most notable characteristics of this logkeeper's handwriting is the way his lowercase "p" can resemble a lowercase "f"

In the below examples you can see the words "upper" and "luff to"

The logkeeper's "p" has a thinner bottom line with a more visible loop on top and a notch on the right side.

"upper"


The logkeeper's "f" on the other hand has a more obvious loop on the bottom and a cleaner line on the right leading to the next letter.

"luff to"


Here in the word "Carpenter" you can see an even more extreme version of his thin, linear "p"

[arboggs]

There are lots of different ways logkeepers abbreviate the words "and" and "et cetera." This logkeeper often makes a mark that looks like a "V" to indicate "and" as opposed to a plus sign "+" or ampersand "&"

So when he writes "et cetera" he does not write it as "etc" but rather the "V" mark and "C" such as in the example below

[arboggs]

The abbreviations that the logkeeper uses for the ships can sometimes be tricky. The names of steam ships are often written with "St" or "Stm" in front. If you're unfamiliar with the ship's name it can be easy to confuse it as part of the name, but it is simply a designation.

Here is an example of the bark "Alexander" being listed as a "Stm" steamer


Sometimes a ship is described by make such as "BK" for "bark/barque" or "Sc" for "schooner" as in these examples.

"BK Abram Barker"


"Sc Rosario"